


Faint of Heart [the When the Madness Stops remix]

by blueabsinthe



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Lawyers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Restaurant, M/M, Meet-Cute, Remix, Tampa Bay Lightning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 21:02:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16205615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueabsinthe/pseuds/blueabsinthe
Summary: Make up something to believe in your heart of hearts





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [boltschick2612](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boltschick2612/gifts).



> I figured I'd upload what I originally started because it'd be a shame to see it go to waste. And, maybe it'll force me to finish it eventually. The fic is a remix of the series [When the Madness Stops](https://archiveofourown.org/series/33709).
> 
> Title of the fic is from the Tegan and Sara song of the same name and the summary is lyrics from a song by The National. 
> 
> Hope you like what I started, boltschick2612 :)

> **RESTAURATEUR, TEDDY PURCELL, SINGLE AGAIN?**
> 
> _Owner and operator of the trendy, upscale restaurant,_ Merlot, _may be lucky in locating your next favourite bottle of pinot noir from its extensive wine bar, but it appears he doesn’t seem to be having much luck in locating or tying down his own shiny arm candy. The Tampa restaurateur appears to have been unceremoniously dumped by his significant other, advertising executive, Nate Thompson, in a very public reveal just under eight hours ago! Sources say the breakup comes just under a month after the two lovebirds were spotted getting cozy in Ireland. We continue to follow this developing story and will be sure to release details as we hear them._

Fuck his entire life. Teddy neatly folded the paper and tucked it under his arm as he crossed the parking lot towards his favourite coffee shop. The morning air was crisp, with a balmy breeze tickling the hairs at the nape of his neck. He loved this time in the morning, or he did until he’d opened the paper and ran across the headline in the local society-slash-gossip column. This was the absolute last thing he wanted to deal with. His phone was buzzing non-stop with incoming text messages, e-mails, phone calls, all of which he’d ignored, thank you very much.

He just reached the counter when his usual order was passed across the counter to him. Being a regular here had its perks. Teddy smiled at the girl behind the counter and took a sip from the cup. “Perfect. Thanks.”

“No prob. And, just for the record, Nate’s a jerk for breaking up with you the way he did,” the girl said.

Teddy offered what he hoped passed for a smile, despite silently wishing the earth would swallow him whole. He pulled out his wallet, but the girl waved him off. 

“Don’t worry ‘bout it this time, Teds. Least I can do after everything that’s happened.” 

Teddy thanked her once again before he scooped up his cup and headed back towards the door. He stopped briefly at a vacant table to readjust his belongings, causing the paper to flop open, revealing the headline once more. He half-wondered how many people had seen the damn article. Gossip column or not, Teddy had to give the writer of the article credit. He had, in fact, been unceremoniously dumped over social media a mere eight hours or so ago. 

Teddy met Nate when he contacted him to do some advertising work for the restaurant. They’d hit it off almost instantly, spending most nights talking until the wee hours of the morning, or even catching a hockey game at Amalie. They both played in their respective hometowns and all through college. When they first got together, Teddy was hesitant at first about anything serious, and Nate seemed perfectly content with their arrangement. He wasn’t sure when their casual dating turned serious, or even if it did at all. Nevertheless, the gossip columns seemed to have a field day with their relationship. 

He kept making excuses for why none of his past relationships had turned serious. He was too busy, he just hadn’t found the one. After he opened Merlot, shortly after graduating college, it was a whirlwind of making sure his investment didn’t go belly up and paying back the loans he’d taken out. His hard work had paid off, business was booming, his five-year plan was on track to be completed on time, if not ahead of schedule. Dating seemed to take a back seat if he was honest. 

Somewhere along the line of realizing his hard work had paid off, and spending most of his nights with Nate, he couldn’t help but shake the nagging feeling something was missing. He supposed that was why he suggested the Ireland trip to Nate, why he suggested to Nate they think about their real estate options, and why he considered selling his condo.

Nate seemed on board, but when the topic of flying to their respective hometowns to meet their parents, he balked. Up until they started dating, Nate had been single a long time too. His last serious relationship was in college, with a woman. Teddy was his first so-called ‘serious’ relationship with a guy. 

Teddy should have spotted the signs of trouble when Nate said he was flying back to his hometown to take care of some things. Like a bonehead, Teddy thought this trip was so Nate could tell his family about them. Even said so over the phone one night when he called him.

“I’m so glad you told them. You did that for me, Thank you,” Teddy said.

The silence on the phone was longer than a normal silence should have been. Teddy could almost picture Nate looking down at the floor, while he nibbled at his bottom lip.

“You didn’t tell them … did you?”

More silence. “Look, Teds, it’s …”

“No, I get it. I’ll see you when you get back.” 

They hadn’t spoken for the rest of the time Nate was in Alaska. When Nate got back to Tampa, he appeared on Teddy’s doorstep, looking guilty. That should have been Teddy’s second clue something was wrong, but, nevertheless, he let Nate into his condo.

“I’m sorry,” Teddy started as they settled on the couch. “I forgot how hard it can be to admit things like this to people.” He ran a hand down his face, rubbing at the stubble on his chin. “My family was incredibly understanding, and I take it for granted that everyone’s situation isn’t like mine. It’s hard and I know it’s hard. I need to remember that.”

Nate was silent, but he leaned across the space and kissed Teddy’s cheek. “Thanks, Teds.”

They’d spent the night on their respective sides of the bed, the only contact between them being when Teddy reached a hand out to Nate, interlacing their fingers. 

Teddy didn’t speak to Nate for a week after that night. Nate cited it was a busy time at work for him, and he promised they would make up for lost time on the weekend. He finally got a response from Nate, like the article said, ‘just under eight hours ago’. 

Except, it wasn’t through text or any other form of a private messaging app. Nope, Nate posted a photo of him with his arm around a very pretty, willowy blond woman, on a photo sharing app, with a two-line caption:

> _So excited for this new venture in our life. Los Angeles, here we come!_

Teddy had closed the photo-sharing app after reading the caption, his eyes briefly catching on the person Nate had tagged. He assumed it belonged to the blond he was getting cozy with in the picture. His angry text to Nate had gone unanswered; not that he expected a response. Los Angeles was apparently waiting for him. Teddy kept going over what could have possibly prompted this whole LA thing, but he kept coming up empty. LA was never on Nate’s radar while they’d been together. 

Had he really been too pushy? When did his seemingly idyllic life get blown to hell?

A light breeze brought him out of his reverie. Teddy took one more look at the article currently glaring up at him, before he muttered his disgust and turned to the garbage, shoving the paper and its headline into the bin. He starts the walk to his car, pausing briefly to take a sip from his cup. The coffee slid smoothly down his throat. 

The morning had started promising but was worsening the longer he thought about the blasted article now languishing in the trash bin behind him. Teddy shook his head in an attempt to clear his mind from the remnants of the article before his attention was drawn to the incessant chirp from his cell phone. 

Teddy grumbled to himself as he pulled his phone out. He really should have turned it off the minute the text alerts and phone calls started pouring in. He was about to turn his phone off when he felt something ram into him. He barely registered as the contents from his cup splashed onto his suit jacket. 

“What the fuck!” Teddy growled as he looked down at his suit to assess the damage his now ruined cup of coffee had done. 

The cuff and lower arm of his dark navy suit seemed to bear the brunt of the coffee damage, but Teddy was unsure how bad the damage was to his crisp white shirt and silk tie. Grumbling, Teddy dug around in his pocket for a tissue and cursed when he came up empty. He did his best to wipe down his suit jacket as his eyes scanned the area to see what - or who - had run into him. 

Teddy was greeted with a pair of piercing blue eyes and honey blond hair. He could almost feel his heart as it skipped a beat. The last person who caused his heart to skip as it did just now was also the same one who decided the best way to end things between them was tagging him in a very public photo with a two sentencer captioning it. 

He let his eyes travel down the man’s body, silently appraising every detail he caught. The man’s hair was thick and a little on the longer side, the ends brushing against the collar of his shirt. He was Teddy’s height, with stormy blue eyes, and a well-defined jawline. The suit he was wearing fit him perfectly, and it took Teddy an extra minute or so to realize he was staring. 

“This is an absolutely fabulous start to my day,” Teddy muttered before he turned his ire on the man standing in front of him, who was assessing the damage to his suit as well. “Why weren’t you watching where you were going?” he snapped.

Teddy was once again greeted by the man’s blue eyes, sparkling with amusement. “Me? I wasn’t the one who was distracted by my phone. If anything, I should be asking if you intend to pay for my dry cleaning bill.” 

“Oh please. It’s not a crime to spill coffee on someone. Believe it or not, people have survived worse things besides having coffee spilled on them,” Teddy said through gritted teeth. God, the pounding at his temples was growing worse.

“So, I suppose _your_ cup of coffee grew legs, bumped into me, and spilled on my suit accidentally?” 

Teddy scowled. “Bumped? More like _crashed_ into me,” he muttered.

“The suit’s brand new too,” the man murmured, looking at the lapel of his suit jacket with disdain. 

“Well, if you can afford a brand new Gucci suit, I’m sure you won’t have any trouble replacing it with a new one,” Teddy snarled.

“Nice comeback. You practice that in the mirror this morning?” the man said, before he stepped into Teddy’s personal space, his finger sliding a business card into Teddy’s suit jacket pocket. 

Before Teddy could react, the man was stepping away from him. Teddy yanked the business card out of his pocket, staring down at what was printed on it:

****

> **MATT GILROY**  
>  _General Counsel; Resound Restaurant Group_

A phone number and e-mail followed.

“Does that routine always work?” Teddy said. “Spill coffee on someone and offer up your contact info? You that hard up for a date?”

Teddy watched as Matt's back stiffened before he turned to stare at him. “Why? You offering?”

“Pfft, you wish,” Teddy snapped, as he felt his cheeks flame.

A sharp bark of laughter reached Teddy’s ears as the man continued across the parking lot, an arrogant and amused smirk on his face. 

“Oh, by the way,” Matt started, gesturing to his suit, “it’s a Brioni, not Gucci.” 

Teddy was so close to yelling a few choice words, some of which included where this arrogant stranger could shove his Brioni suit, but he settled for staring slack-jawed at the business card in his hand. It took Teddy another couple minutes to realize where he was standing before he shook his head and continued towards his parked car.

Fuck his entire life, indeed.

======

Teddy was not in a good mood as he wrenched open the door to his office. He never did manage to turn his phone off and it had been chirping non-stop all through his drive to the restaurant. His head was still throbbing, his suit was ruined. And, he was single. 

He busied himself with starting up his computer and organizing the various files on his desk. Teddy was fuming. He’d been embarrassed twice in the span of less than twelve hours! This day was shaping up to be the worst one he’d had in a long time. 

_Stupid Brioni suit-wearing jerk_ , he groused to himself. “Stupid good-looking Brioni suit-wearing jerk,” he clarified, remembering the honey blond hair and cornflower blue eyes.

“Who’s a good-looking jerk in a Brioni suit?”

Teddy looked up and saw his assistant manager, and friend, Ryan ‘Bugsy’ Malone, standing in the doorway, a grin on his face. He swore under his breath as he realized his last comment had been spoken outloud.

“No one you know,” he replied.

“Oh?” Ryan started, taking the seat across from Teddy’s desk. “What if I want to know, hm?”

Teddy scoffed. “Man whore.”

Ryan chuckled, leaning back in his seat. “You should try it sometime. It’s a lot less messy than, well…” 

Teddy snorted. “So you saw the article, I take it.’

“Jerk,” Ryan muttered. His eyes studied Teddy in silence. “You okay?”

Teddy’s face was deadpan as he stared at Ryan. “Absolutely perfect. Couldn’t be better. Even getting coffee spilled on me doesn’t compare to being dumped over social media.” The sarcasm evident in his tone.

Ryan blinked, his eyes traveling down to Teddy’s cuff, and he frowned. “Is that why your suit is stained?”

Teddy scowled remembering Matt Gilroy and his Brioni suit-wearing ways. “No, I did this on purpose.” 

Ryan’s upper lip twitched in amusement. “Remind me never to end our friendship over social media.”

“Ha ha ha,” Teddy snapped. “Someone bumped into me this morning.”

Ryan’s eyes danced with amusement. “Is this someone a ‘stupid, good-looking Brioni suit-wearing jerk’?”

Teddy practically growled ‘yes’.

“Oh my god. You had a meet-cute!”

Teddy’s eyes were daggers as he stared at Ryan. “A meet-what?”

“Meet-cute! Y’know, it’s like those scenes in rom-coms where …” Ryan trailed off as he saw the murderous look Teddy was giving him. “But, we don’t have to talk about that now,” he finished.

Teddy set about the task of retrieving a new shirt from his desk drawer, throwing a pen at Ryan as he teased him for keeping spare shirts in his drawer. 

Ryan’s eyes flicked to the crumpled business card on Teddy’s desk. “Should I throw out his business card?”

Teddy shrugged, fastening the tiny plastic buttons on his shirt cuffs. “Might as well,” he started, before sliding his suit jacket on again. “I’ll never see him again, anyway.”


	2. Chapter 2

Matt brushed a piece of non-existent lint from the lapel of his Brioni suit. The suit had been easy enough to get cleaned at the local dry cleaners, but he was still annoyed by the whole coffee debacle from nearly two months ago. He was being petty, he knew he was. It wasn’t the first time someone had spilled coffee on one of his suits. It was just ... Matt found he couldn’t stop thinking about that morning from two months ago. And not just because it’d been his first day as General Counsel for Resound Restaurant Group. 

Matt found he was thinking more and more about the tall, dark-haired guy who he’d bumped in to. He found he was making more stops at the same coffee shop over the past two months in a vain attempt to see if he could run into him again. His attempts thus far had been unsuccessful. 

He pulled himself out of his reverie and knocked on the door to his boss, Guy Boucher’s, office. Guy looked up from the newspaper he had open on his desk and smiled warmly at Matt.

“Matt! Come on in.”

Matt crossed the floor to take a seat in the chair across from Guy’s desk.

Guy folded the paper he was holding before he slid it across the table to Matt.

“I take the _New York Times_ ,” Matt said pointedly. 

Guy smiled. “Taking it isn’t the same thing as reading it.” He leaned back in his chair, interlacing his fingers as he did so. “We’ll get the New Yorker out of you soon enough.”

Matt grinned. “Isn’t there a saying about that?”

Guy smirked. “How've your first two months been? Settling in fine?”

Matt nodded. “So far so good. I’m keeping busy.” He eyed the newspaper now sitting in front of him, noting the sports section was staring up at him. “‘Lightning hope to keep up their win streak as they settle into a long stretch of home games’,” he recited, before glancing up at his boss.

“Why do I get the feeling you didn’t just show me the sports section for nothing?” Matt asked.

Guy was still leaning back in his chair, a smile on his face. “You would be correct.” He leaned forward then, interlacing his fingers on top of the newspaper. “I need you to go to the Lightning home game for me. Tonight.” 

Matt frowned. “Can I ask why?”

“Because you’ll be meeting with Amalie Arena’s general counsel,” Guy started, “I’m hoping to get Resound to be their new food and beverage distributor.”

“What makes you think they’re interested in a new contract?”

“Their current one is expiring,” Guy replied simply. “Besides, I think you’ll enjoy yourself. The club seats are great.” He eyed Matt, his eyes twinkling. “You may actually enjoy them more than the ones at Madison Square.”

“All right, all right. I’ll go,” Matt said.

“Excellent,” Guy replied, handing the ticket over to Matt. Matt rose from his seat, straightening his suit jacket as he did so. Guy checked his watch. “If you leave now, you’ll probably beat the evening traffic.”


End file.
